Shades of Grey
by Makilome
Summary: Klaus/Rogue/Damon When he was human, there wasa girl, someone dangerous, gifted,like him.In vengeance for Esther, Mikael killed Triane de Wilde, the only woman Klaus ever loved the woman destined by his mother's magic to be reincarnated, to become powerful feared Rogue. With memories she does not yet understand, she is drawn to her Wolf, but the Raven is drawn to her.
1. When Prey turn Predators P1

**Shades of Grey**

**a X-Men/Vampire Diaries tale**

Pairing: Rogue/Klaus/Damon

**Chapter I: When Predators turn Prey Part 1**

Damon's POV

It looked to be a rather uneventful evening. Klaus' pooches were restless, but smart enough by now to not do something stupid, such as set off himself or the local badass witch who currently sipped drinks with her supposed stepbrother Jaime in some undetermined corner. Whether she knew it or not, he really did care for the witch, which was why he was here, making sure said step brother knew his place. Bonnie was the sassy sister he always wanted, and he wasn't about to let the hormonal Jaime take advantage of her vulnerability right now. Granted it was vulnerability that was created, intentional or not, by his brother and yours truly, but still! He remained unseen, a skill he did in fact prefect, inspite of what Bonnie believed, sipping on Scotch and watching the locals trying to drink away their sorrows. Like some scene in a bad movie. But things began to change, and quickly.

His ears picked up to a news report, an attack in New York, blamed on mutants. Now there was a term he had not heard before! Witches, yes, wolves, affirmtive, vampires, well duh, but who and what were mutants? He turned to face the television watching in shock as said mutants did open battle well in the sight of humans. There was a man with metal claws that reminded him of Klaus on crack, a beautiful woman with white hair and mocha skin that closely resembled Bonnie who hurled lightning, a boy with a smirk that resembled his own who weilded flame just like Bonnie could, and a girl, a young girl who was the center of it all, dodging and running with an army bag slung over her shoulders. Authorities all over the place were looking for her, that small young thing, calling her the most dangerous out of them all, causing him to snort.

Truth be told, he felt bad for her, though he never would admit it aloud. So young, with the world against you. He could relate! He did a silent toast to all the outcasts, saying the name softly as he did "To you little Rogue, may they never find you." He soon found that he was not the only one playing close attention to the news. It would figure that one of the Originals would be close by to keep an eye on those unruly Hybrids. "Who would think such a pretty little thing could be so dangerous? But looks are very decieving. Had my eye on that one a long time. She's a fighter, a survivor." he turned to see Barbie Klaus with a look on her face that he couldn't place. It certainly held more emotion in it than he had ever seen in her before. "Leave her be! They have their own problems, she doesn't need your special brand of insanity to add to her own!" it came out sarcastic, but he shocked himself at the protective vibes that suddenly swept through him on her account.

"She is us, Damon, but you wouldn't know that. You would never understand. Not us, not someone like her. So young, so much power, and so many people who want to break her, use her, turn her into a mindless weapon to suit their own needs. You are one of Them. It's from people like you she needs protection from the most." Rebekah's voice rose as she gave him a glare that was far more deadly than any he had ever seen on her. He gave her a strange look. "She is a stranger. What could she possibly be to any of you?" he demanded. "Family. And Damon, you should know better than to fuck with our Family. Leave her be." her eyes flashed black. Damon broke out his signature smirk. "Aren't you overeacting a little Barbie? She is many miles from Mystic Falls and the chance is one in a million she'll end up in this place." he said. She smiled a knowing smile, a secret smile that sent chills down his spine. "One in a million, and when she comes, stay the hell away from her!"

And with that rather cryptic message, she walked to the other side of the bar, eyeing the witch and leaving Damon completely confused. He didn't like the sound of what he just heard. The Originals knew something he didn't. Barbie Klaus, if not their whole fucked up Family were connected to the girl that was the center of a national manhunt somehow. It didn't sit well with him, not at all! All the more so that deep down, he wanted them as far away from the young mutant girl as possible! Klaus in particular, though if you asked him why, he couldn't tell you. It was time he ended Bonnie's little date. Something was up, and for once he would like to be prepared for what might be coming. "Judgy, we got Original Buisness tonight, cut it short! Something is up that might change the game!" the silent message was heard loud and clear as Bonnie shot a glare over her shoulder at him.

"You owe me Salvatore! Next date you have to pay for both mine and Jamie's meals and give Elena and Steffan some alone time!" she responded in kind. It was a steep price, particularly considering his feelings concerning the rekindled love affair between his brother and the fair Elena, but in the end, he was tired of the Petrova's playing games with him so he excepted the deal, begrudgingly. Just to show good will, he made it out without Bonnie's date seeing him and allowed her plenty of time to make her excuses and meet him at her car. He was already i the driver's side, making her roll her eyes at him as she took the passenger's seat. She looked to tired to fight with him. "Are you going to tell me what this is about Damon or will I have to beat it out of you?" she asked. He smirked. He did love that fire! "It has to do with mutants, one in particular. Rogue her name was." he said.

"The same as the one they are hunting for everywhere?" her tone became sympathetic. Her kind had been hunted and burnt at the stake for a milenia, she would definately be sympathetic to the threat the mutants now faced. "Yeah, little Rogue. Barbie Klaus was at the grill tonight. She spoke rather cryptically of her. She called her one of Them. It doesn't make any sense. She may be a mutant, but she is still human. But she was as protective as though she were speaking about one of her siblings! There is some connection there and we need to know what it is. We need to know before that one in a million chance that she runs here ends up happening. I don't want her anywhere near those bastards!" he exclaimed. "For once, we agree on something Salvatore. Let's go to the Witch's House and see what they have to say about our girl and the Originals." he smiled. He knew that when it counted, he could always count on Bonnie, something more than he could say than his old family!


	2. When Prey turns Predator P2

**Chapter 2: **When Predators turn Prey Part 2

Rebekah's POV

She picked up her phone immediately after warning that bastard of a Salvatore to stay the hell away from their girl! It was the first real evidence she had that the girl she long suspected to be the reborn Triane de Wilde, though she had kept tabs on the girl Rogue for quite sometime. It was a feeling she got in her gut after the first reports came out several years ago about the incident at Liberty Island. This report though confirmed everything, it was the first close up of the young girl's face, right after she lifted a semi and hurled it at who was ever attacking her. That close up, that lovely dark hair, those startling emerald eyes, that knowing, cynical smirk paired with sadness that could only be matched by one other being in the world, her build, her power, she had been right all along! But her excitement was coupled with fear. The feds were hunting her with everything they had, and it was obvious that they cared not whether they got her dead or alive. She needed Nik and she needed him NOW and the Salvatore's needed to not interefere with HER FAMILY!

She was relieved her brother had picked up on first ring. "Don't argue, don't say anyting, turn the channel to CNN, right NOW!" she commanded, her voice urgent. Nik could never deny her in that tone. "Bekah what's going on?" he demanded. "Are you watching?" she was almost hysterical but chaos was erupting all around her girl and she had no idea how she could get away! "NIK!" she screamed. "I'm watching what is the..." everything went dead silent. She could hear nothing. The background of the Grill faded, the wind against the building was not heard, nor the eavesdropping of the local Scoobs seen. "Nik? Nik? Nik pick up!" She kept trying to get anything from the other end. After 5 minutes she heard a shudder of broken breathe. "Triane!" the whisper was so soft that had she been a mortal she would have never heard it. "Yes Nik, the magick finally worked. She's here, but can't you see?" she needed to pull him out of his trance so they could get her the hell out of New York without being seen and the human dogs on the trail! A loud explosion that knocked the girl down finally got his attention back.

"Get the jet ready Bekah and meet me at the airfield. Kol is in Brooklyn, he'll probably be able to make it to her first!" there was the Nik she knew and loved. The one that was always in control and knew what to do. If they were smart, acted fast and out of the mortal radar she could get her friend, her dearest sister back, after a thousand years of waiting! And this time, her father would be no threat to her. Not the incredible mutant she had seen on the news. Mikael would never be a threat to her or her family ever again! And with Triane back in his arms, Nik could finally stop the schemes with the hybrids and get the Salvatores off their backs, them and their pet witch. She had noticed her there tonight, she was not blind! She hoped Damon took her threat to heart. He looked far to interested in Rogue as he watched the news. If he tried anything to take her away from them, her family would slaughter every person he has ever given a damn about before allowing Triane herself the honors of using that lovely talent of hers to drain everything that sad excuse for a night walker had to give.

Now that was a happy thought! "Bekah stop daydreaming, hang up the damn phone and dial the bloody pilot, NOW! I want to know as soon as you finish and contact Kol! I'm going to do some spying. The witch will want to know what is going on and will be heading to the Witch's House. It will give us her location and what she has after her!" he commanded, taking on that authorative tone she knew so well. I'm on Nik but be careful. Damon, my instincts tell me we need to keep an eye on him." she warned. He laughed. "Triane de Wilde is one of the most talented people readers to walk this Earth! She could see through Salvatore the minute she set eyes on him from five feet away!" the comment brought back memories when the young mutant had told them everything about Mikael's personality after only getting a glimpse of the back of the older man's head from several feet away and how painfully accurate she had been! After getting over their intial shock both her, Nik, and Kol had been rolling in laughter as she had gazed with an amused smile on her face for an eternity.

She laughed along with him. "True! But there may be a guest. Someone had her back. A talented flame wielder who looked like he had no problem with killing anyone that got anyone near her." From the reports Rogue and Pyro aka St. John Allerdyce were two peas in a pod and inseperable friends even when they fought for different sides once and from what they said of him Bekah came to the conclusion that if they could roll Damon and Kol into one person, that person would be this Pyro. "Anyone who keeps an eye on Triane is a friend and not a foe, sister, especially not one like him. Him and Kol spend five minutes with one another and we will have a new dangerous trio." his amused tone relied her fears. "Don't worry so much. She will have had memories of us, dear sister. She may not understand yet, but she won't fear us and she will follow us out of the danger. She has dreamed of us ever since that coming of age. She is ours once again." he said, so sure of himself.

"Mikael is still on the loose and we have Alaric to deal with now Nik, don't forget that!" she cautioned one last time. "Who will be no match for all of us, and I dare say I wouldn't mind having her friend there and watch him roast that bastard of a father of ours and Mother just for good measure!" she rolled her eyes. "Calling the pilot." she said, hanging up as she heard Nik fire up his vehicle and head at top speed to the airfield. She was surprised to find said pilot up. Sometimes his insomnia did pay off, and as a bonus, he just so happened to this one time be sober! With some well placed threats to his manhood, she had him properly motivated to fly into what was becoming a war zone within a short period of a few hours. Her next call was to Kol. "I see you have been watching the news. Have you seen our girl?! Now that is how you kick some ass! You should take notes Bekah! I always knew she had it in her!" Kol was beyond proud. They both bonded over their penchent for battle tatics and sword play before.

She hid a smile. She had been very impressed. It was dangerous to piss off a Stage 4 mutant with the potential Rogue posessed or her training. Of course what she did not know was not all of that came from her x-gene but she would, in time. "She's still in danger Kol!" she screamed at him. "I'm not an idiot Bekah! I'm about five minutes away from her, I just need to reach the fire wielder and get him to start falling back with her." he said. Color her shocked. "In communication with Pyro?" she asked. She could almost fill him roll his eyes. "It's Triane, love. We connect to who she connects to, and they mise well be blood related. He knew what I was immediately, he intiated, did everything short of call me by name! Uncanny if you ask me but he trusts me but is a little busy battling a fucking drone of all things right now." Fear surged in her heart. "Get them OUT OF THERE!" she screamed. "Working on it! How about you call in that favor that our beloved other siblings here owes and get me some fucking back up?" he yelled back, an explosion was heard as well as a muffled colorful curse. She hung up only to get an immediate call from Elijah. "I'm on the ground, where the hell is Kol!" his voice was so loud she had to hold the phone back from her head.

"By the Pyro, about 5 feet back. Can you do something with that drone?" she asked. "Oh I do love a challenge. On it. Just get that jet here with Nik as soon as possible and we will be there!" he hung up the phone. She reached the airfield with the sight of Nik's blonde head and fierce blue eyes popping out of the door and beckoning her. "Let's get a move on! We got to get her out of there now! You can tell me what our siblings are doing on the way!" He commanded. She blurred in and they took off in record time. In spite of the moment her brother smirked. "Threatened his manhood didn't you Bekah?" he asked amused. "Who me?" she feigned innocence and they both laughed. "Triane it's really her! Triane, Bekah!" he was filled with emotion, it spilled out of him. He feared for her but his emptiness, his soulessness was gone. The changes her reappearance wrought were immediate and profound. He would never be the same monster again.

"Yes, it's really her. And such power at her finger tips! Mikael can not hurt her this time. This time it is him who will be on his knees before her!" she exclaimed. The rage, the whole in her heart when Mikael had ripped out Traine's heart after Nik killed their mother in revenge for making them monsters had never healed. It had made her cold, ruthless. It looked like it had done the same for Rogue. They did not yet know the story of her in this life but if how St. John defended her was any indication, it was not much different than the one before when after finding out about her abilities her parents tried to burn her at the stake before Ayanna had been able to save her. "It's a revenge I will leave to her. Just as long as she keeps us." he sounded so very vulnerable. "What does your heart tell you?" she asked. "That the Wolf and the Rogue are one and the same. They will always find one another, my heart shall always find her, and hers will always find mine." It was the words of the spell they had heard many witches utter over the years.

"My only fear is who, and what is the Raven." he said softly.

Damon's POV

They reached the Witch's House in no time. A sense of urgency he had not felt sense Bonnie had been under the threat of the Original's ripped through him. He couldn't explain it. "Damon, are you alright?" she had asked. "Just focus on the task, Judgy!" he tried not to snap and he was glad she chose to ignore his tone. He had helped her set up everything, given her everything she needed to draw down the Circle, and sent up his own silent prayer to Sheila and Emily to ingnore their loathing for him and think of the girl. She was in danger, she was under Original radar and that never went well for anyone! He needed to know what they planned for her and he needed to know how to keep her out of their reach! Bonnie sat cross legged in the center of the circle and she was changing. Her closed eyes opened into a blinding white. "Come into the Circle and sit, Damon Varus Salvatore!" it was an authorative voice that did not belong to his witch or anyone he had ever known before. "And why should I do that?" he asked. "Because I am the Original Witch, and that powerful young girl you are concerned about is connected to my Family."

He stepped in but did not sit. "I don't trust the woman who wanted to end all of my kind in one fail swoop." he remarked. "Yours is not the only breed of Night Walker in the world, Damon. There are greater threats than my Family, even Mikael and me. Any of them could turn you to their species and you'll be safe. You need only call out the name Maharet. A name you know in your heart of hearts the same as you knew the stories of Akasha were quite real and drew you to keep an extra eye on Bonnie. But that has nothing to do with this. That girl is the reincarnation of a powerful being that remains a mystery. It could be Triane de Wilde was the first mutant to walk the world. But she early on captured the heart of Nikolaus, and she has it still." he didn't like the sound of that at all! Any love the Hybrid had was twisted, horrific, the kind that made him look princely in comparison! "The Power and potential of the mutant Rogue is unprecedidented. A supernatural with the x-gene. She will be hunted the world over.

In her lies the key to nuetrulizing the threat of my Family. Understand, with Triane in his arms, Nikolaus will care about nothing else. But there is a threat to the peace her presense can bring other than the obvious with the current manhunt out on her." she spoke. Call him a cynic but he didn't believe the love of one girl could tame the big bad Hybrid. "You were not there, you have no idea how deep the love of the Wolf and the Rogue runs. The threat is one of the heart. Your heart." Now Damon knew she was talking nonsense! "Lady, I don't know if you noticed, but my heart is something that belongs to the Petrova line. No matter how many times it gets stomped on." he spoke the bleeding and sad truth. "Not anymore. You had an incarnation in your own line too. Arcan Salvatore was his name, and he was madly in love with Triane de Wilde, the same as my son. He too was gifted, could shift into the form of a raven. When Triane rejected him, in a rage he cursed her. It worked, by the way. She can not touch human flesh with out killing."

He flinched. "I can not control what my ancestors have done. What has this to do with me?" he asked. "Maybe not now, but you will fall for the Rogue, my poor Raven. And in this life she carries a secret that may destroy the world as we know it. If we wish to correct the mistake I made when I created the Originals and Mikael killed Triane de Wilde, if we are to recreate the balance, The Wolf and the Raven will have to make peace. They will have to do it to save the Rogue's, Anna Marie D'Ancanto's soul." It felt like a knife pierced his undead heart. "Alcatraz..." he had dreams about what had happened there. He knew the offical story seemed false... "The demon known as the Phoenix has a stronghold in her soul. Pyro, St. John Allerdyce is the only one who knows now except you. She plagues her dreams. She fights for control over her body. If you and Nikolaus do not make peace and with your love, and that of two others whom I will not name, The Phoneix will destroy Creation.

"So you are willing to give up trying to kill us and are willing to help us save her?" he said skeptically. "It will bring the balance back. The number of mutants will grow more safely, balancing out the threat of what I created an age ago. Taking out the Phoenix will give them a new world, a better world, where evolution will redeem what I have done. If you can put aside your hatred for my son in order to save the girl, you too shall be redeemed." and with that, the body of Bonnie slumped over. As it did, dreams, visions invaded his mind and he saw the face of the girl he saw on the news, but he knew her. And when he woke as Bonnie screamed his name he knew that this was about to get extremely complicated. He was most confused over the symbol of the pentogram which was Bonnie's symbol set on fire entered his mind.

Yep it's going to be a Pyro/Bonnie pairing. :D And of course the Phoenix would be involved. And Mikael will do all he can to provoke the girl to get the very ending Esther warned against.


	3. Rescue

**Chapter 3: **When Predators turn Prey

Kol finally makes contact with Pyro and Rogue on the ground. She recongnizes him, doesn't know how but knows she can trust him, she has learned long ago to trust memories whether or not they belonged to her. Elijah takes over the mind of the controller of the drone and turns it on those on Rogue's tail. Pyro, and Kol follow her as by instinct she makes her way to the plane that holds the other two Originals. Before they board the Originals get a first hand encounter of Rogue's "gift".

Rogue's POV

So much for a get out of town plan! She didn't know what she had been thinking, that she, one of the most feared X-Men, and St. John, one of the most feared mutants on the planet could just get out of dodge without anyone noticing! It hadn't even been ten minutes before the sirens starting sounding round the city. The goverment's drone's came out in force and her and Pyro had been forced to deal with them in force, but their very prescense of course brought the X-Men. "Fucking perfect John! All I want to do is be left the fuck alone and can I even do that, of course not! How can I stop fighting a war they keep throwing me back into! HOW!" she demanded angrily. "You are asking the wrong man, sheila! I tried to warn you all that time ago, you were the one that refused to listen! But we are not quite lost yet. We got company of the more welcome kind." he responded back. A useful gift leftover from draining the Phoneix, telepathy. A face flashed in her mind one that almost made her stop in her tracks! It was a face she knew! But not from now, not from here. It was a face she knew in her dreams. A brother in arms, something not human, but one of the few things in this world that would not ever turn her away.

Debates in a time she never lived, in candle lit rooms, wrapped in the arms of a living breathing Angel with eyes of blue ice and a burning passion that could set cities alight. Names on the tip of her tounge that she could never remember waking. "Follow him, do as he says, you can trust him." she replied to Pyro. "What the fuck Rogue?! do you know him?" he demanded. "Now is not the time to be asking questions of willing allies who have the ability to get us out of here with our asses intact!" she snapped back. She caught the smirk and the gleam in his eye that she loved so dearly. "Point taken Sheila. We got one major problem though. You are drained, I'm out of fluid, and we got a psychotic drone on us!" he pointed out the very obvious. "I'm not blind and I'm right here, idiot!" "When you two are quite done with your screaming contest, my brother and I would like to escort you towards your escape." a silent, amused voice that still managed to have that sort of British accent that makes one melt, even under such circumstances came through.

Rogue couldn't put her finger on it, but she knew that voice! It excited something deep inside her. Like something had been missing for a long time but she had never known. Like something ripped away was being given back. And being the voice was different than the one that spoke before she knew they had two allies in getting out of there, hopefully out from under the X-Men's radar. "I have an idea, but you have to get the fire weilder to listen to me." said the same voice. "Get him out of here in one piece and he'll kiss you!" I remarked. I felt rather than heard a low chuckle that filled me with a happiness that I had not felt since my mutation took over and destroyed my life as I knew it. "I don't play for that team, but there is another who I'm sure would be more than happy to make his aquaintance." an image of a beautiful African American with raven locks and startling forrest green eyes flew into my mind's eye. That playful glint showed that indeed she certaintly looked like a girl who could put dear St. John in his place. It would be a site to see. I decided that if we got out of this one alive I might record the moment for prosperity. "Plan first, introductions later." I said. "Fair enough. Head for the private airfield near by. Head for the panicked crowds in the terminals and abandon anything bright that identifies either one of you. I and Kol will deal with the drone.

You will be met by a beautiful blonde. You will feel you know her too. Trust that feeling. She will lead you to safety. And yes, Pyro is to come too!" I did a mental happy dance at that. I transmitted the message and after epic arguing and said best friend almost becoming decapitated, I got an agreement out of him and I flashed to him with Quicksilver's Speed and sped us out of there out of sight and into the crowd. He pulled his hood up as did I and I lost the customary army bag that marked me and the x symbols that marked parts of my clothing. We weaved as we had practiced years and years ago, it felt like some strange dance we had learned when we should have been being taught things like English. Ah well, this was no time to whine about the could have beens, but to survive. Time seem to strech forever and it seemed for the longest moment that the plan was going to actually work! No one knew that we were the same two that had been flashing all over the news for the past two days, our flight from our Masters turning into the Battle for New York! Leave it to us to have something simple turn into a complete clusterfuck! But it looked like we had at least some luck.

And there was this strange feeling in my heart. I didn't feel like I was running away anymore. It felt more like I was coming home! I saw a litteral light at the end of the tunnel, John not far behind wearing his signature smirk. As I rolled my eyes at him I felt myself get slammed into a wall with inhuman speed and John for the first time in ages screamed out my human name "ANNA!" He went tearing after me but he was not as fast. I saw a face, in my mind's eye. A face that had feelings of absolute trust, absolute adoration towards it. I decided to trust it just now and projected what was going on with all the power I had to that mind, not caring at this point about the logic of it. Logic went out the window when mutants gained their gifts! I flashed into solid steel, using Piotr's gift. The impact put a crater into a wall. "Well isn't this interesting. A scourge of the human race will cure said race of another scourge, well acutally I just wondered what it would be like to fight and drain the world's most feared mutant. I must say I am dissapointed, I expected more but hey, blood is blood." and like that, the man with long plantinum blonde hair and cat eye green eyes became paler. His eyes went black with veins in matching color formed around them and fangs, longer than that of even Sabretooth dropped!

I was a Southern girl. I knew of vampires, had seen a few though we made it so we avoided one another. I might have even spotted the famed Louis de Pointe du Lac once, for a moment when emerald eyes connected on one another before he blurred out of sight trapped in his own hell. But this species was something completely new to me, and yet familiar. I felt his teeth scrape my neck when I began to smirk. This idiot didn't know?! I think that this one time, I might actually enjoy this! I pretended to be the dasmel in distress, to encourage his actions, willing Pyro to back off when I spotted him. He looked angry but he knew better by now then to second guess me anymore than I him. I screamed and finally he bit and it started, just as I knew it would. This one was to weak to be able withstand my power. He didn't feel very old. Maybe 80 years. A drop in the bucket. But his screams, the look of absolute shock when he tried to yank away but I undid my gloves and laid bare hands on either side of his temples. "Vampires are not the only things to fear in the shadows. A lesson you should have learned before you jumped into our playground! But I'm a proper southern lady, I'll take what I need and then leave you to die with what dignity you have left." I smirked evily before the power took me.

We were both swooning, this unknown vamp and I. Moaning, a thousand memories floating into my mind at lightining speed, his imprint making it's prescence known in my mind and being dragged back by the impirint of Logan. But something bad happened. I couldn't let go. I yanked and yanked, long after he was drained. I screamed and was caught into a world this thing was trying to pull me in. I heard someone call my name, but it couldn't be my name! Strong arms, cool, and definately not John's! "Slowly my Triane, slowly, remember? Of course you do." it coaxed. And I began to let go of myself, I let go of the scene, the feeling, the world in which i was on my knees in a tunnel with a dead vampire locked in my deadly embrace. "you must stop before the heart stops, lest Death takes you down with it." I floated a minute, above the scene, had a arial view like in third person with the eyes of the bird. And about the bird, there was another face I knew. "Rogue, fly, fly back in! Fly my bird." and I spread metaphorical wings and slammed back into my form and felt those arms, arms that I knew but didn't know how. The dead vamp slipped from my grasp.

John was being held back by a dazzling blonde that would put Emma Frost to shame but who's concern for me was written all over her! There were six of us now, alone. And I knew them all. "How?" I asked. The blonde let John go who rushed into my arms and clung for dear life, the blonde man, the one I felt the closest to let it happen, and relinquished his hold for a short moment. But there was a spark of life in those blue eyes that I was betting I would never tire of looking into and silently I told him so. He laughed softly. "You are still here, little and mighty Triane. He couldn't kill your soul. Hark to your dreams little one. But before you do, let's get out of this place. It reeks of mortals and stupidity." John looked up at him with respect. "I think I could like you." he said. A more wonderful laugh fell from those rose red, lucious lips than I have ever heard. "Like wise Fire Child., like wise."


	4. The Things of Dreams and Nightmares

**Chapter 4: **The Things of Dreams and Nightmares

In this chapter, the threat of the Phoneix is made clear to Klaus by Elijah as well as elder brother advise on not moving to fast now that the moment his brother had waited so long for had finally come. Kol and Pyro bond and Kol sparks his interest in Mystic Fall's resident witch as Rogue falls in love with everything that has to do with the Mikaelson mansion and the very obvious pull of her towards her wolf begins.

Klaus POV

Through out the ride he couldn't take his eyes off her, assuring himself that she was here, she was really here, and she was with him again, and she was safe! A thing that he saw that the man who sat beside her played no little part in and as he saw firsthand all feelings though strong beyond most mortal bonds, it was platonic, so he would have to see St. John Allyerdyce well rewarded for such a service and he did indeed seem to be someone right after his own heart. He could see how his Triane was drawn to him. He must of felt familiar, like something she had lost. Yet just the shock of it. The spell really did work, it took a hell of alot longer than he ever expected it too, but results are results! But it was easy to see that the life she was in had wounds of its own. Her eyes that were once so bright were clouded and haunted. She had known pain, want, lonlieness, and death. She had fought in numerous wars and seen many around her die simply because she existed. Well no more! His home would be a haven, and he would not let anyone near her ever again, and now for his service that same protection streched to Pyro.

"Are you going to speak? How do I know you? Your face, your voice, all of you?" he turned as she spoke. She was not afraid, loath as he was to admit it, he was not the scariest thing she had ever dealt with, perhaps not even the most powerful, a thought he really didn't want to contimplate at the current moment. He moved, drawn by an invisable wire like he had been so long ago and knelt down in front of her, touching gently the head wound she recieved while running for her life. He let his anger be for now. "We have plenty of time for that, and to be reaquainted, for now, you are bleeding." he looked right next to her were Pyro held what would be a stoic look on his face if not for a smirk that would put the elder Salvatore to absolute shame. "You both are. You have no reason to trust us, but no reason not to. And if either of you loose anymore blood you are going to go out." he said. She winced when he touched another rough spot and he smirked at his point being made. "Very well, but I will be getting my answers, Klaus, one way", and she smirked as she removed one glove and waved her lethal hand in front of both their faces" or another." He laughed, though it was no laughing matter. She was every bit as deadly as he was. He liked that, he had always liked that about her.

"Come on now, no fighting without me getting to watch! Plus it would be no fun for him to be in top condition and you to already be battered." said a voice. "Yes because you are just all about fair fights, Kol!" she quipped before she covered her mouth in shock and both his and Kol's eyes went the size of saucers were Elijah gave a small smile. "I knew it would happen, a reminder and it would come back to you, who we are, what we were and are to one another. But you little one," and he lifted her to her feet and began moving back to another part of the plane so Rebekah could look at her." need to be patched up and must not think to hard till you are rested. You hurled more cars today then Nik over there in his moon phase!" he joked lightly. She shrugged. "Not anything we are not use to. What of John?" she demanded. "Like I can say anything about the freaky company you keep Roguey! Don't get your panties in a bunch, I'm right behind you." and her gloved hand took his immediately. The gesture alerted all of them that Pyro would not play a minor role in her life, ever. Neither of them would allow that to happen. "You really need to stop thinking so much about my panties, John, it's not like you will ever see them?" she said with an upturned grin. Klaus' eyes never left till her form was out of his sight.

Elijah took a seat next to his brother. "She has lived a full life since our time with her. One dealing with things that perhaps even we can not imagine. She is Triane, but she is also Rogue now. And we must learn to love both, or have neither." he said sagely. It was true. Strong as Triane had been, the strength Rogue had and the power she weilded paired with the life she had lived had changed her. She was harder now, and had walls that Triane never had. Where in another life she had been open, Rogue had been far too scarred to let anyone in easily. Pyro, it seemed had been the only one to get past those walls, and his fierce protection of her showed that he would gleefully kill to take care of her and make sure she was safe. It was a trait that he and all his family could relate to. Telling her the story would be the start of a long process, and the threat that her heart could be taken from him by the Raven Ayanna spoke of sent a wave of panic through him. He had to get to her, bare his soul, let her know that she was home, she was safe, and no one would ever keep from her that brother of arms she cared so deeply for. And more than that, though his brother may doubt it, he was just as much in love with Anna Marie D'Ancanto as he had been of Triane de Wilde all those centuries ago.

In a way, this life had given her something she did not have before. Mikael had no way to harm her, no way to destroy her as he had done before. She need only to reach out her hand and the man that had haunted them all since eons past would be brought to his knees, and then he would die. For the first time in a millenia, he no longer had to fear either of his parents. They were finally free! Which meant, more to his relunctance, that it was time to make peace with the Salvatore brothers and their precious dopplegagger. He was really quite tired of their attempts on his life and that of his family. His best chances were with Bonnie and Stefan. Because like or not, he and Stefan had a bond and always would, and he could see Bonnie and Pyro hitting it off, there was something similar to them. That hunger and desire to play with fire. And from the looks of the resident pyromancer, he could use someone like Bonnie, someone who had her own walls up and needed someone steady in her life, an anchor that the Salvatore's could never be. Someone who didn't use her and her magick like some indentured servant. It would be interesting to play cupid for once. "you may not believe it, but I am connected to both women. Triane was light to my darkness. Anna, however, will bring us all back from the dark and into the more peaceful shades of grey." he responded to Elijah.

"Do not expect for her to fall into your arms immeditately. There was another, someone she loved, someone for whom she sacraficed, who betrayed her and broke her. The only thing that held her together is the man who is being bandaged with her. And she is scarred from a terrible moment, a darkness that even you in all your rage and your hate could never match. Tell me Nik, what have you seen in YOUR dreams? Do you remember the tragedy at Alcatraz?" the question made him choke and stare at Elijah in horror. "Those flames, the destruction, that siren song that sung to us all that night, we all knew, we knew that what caused that island to fall was not human... what do you know?!" he demanded. A shadow fell over his unbeating heart, the alien emotion of fear crept in. He caught on all right, she had been there! Her and the pyromancer! They had been fighting the Thing that destroyed the dark halls of that place! "I was always closer to mother than you were. Closer to the witch in her. I saw Her Nik. I saw the Phoneix! I saw the dark Goddess rise and almost bring the world of man crashing down! I saw it through Rogue's eyes! I saw what she had to do, what she was made to do!" A sick feeling gathered into the pit of his stomach. "She took that Thing into herself!" he whispered. "Yes, the mutant, the strong one, the feral one, even with his abilities was still just a mutant. Still just a man. But Rogue..." Elijah spoke. "Has always been more." Klaus finished.

It made sense now, why she had come when she had. Why all this was happening now. The display in New York showed how great her powers now were, and how flexible her morals could be when angered. It was something that only I could truly understand. It was now because now was when she needed us. She needed us to save her from the litteral demon within. It was my silent grateful prayer that Mikael was not privy to this information. "She has been in many battles and fought a long war, and as you have fought insanity as the walls crumbled around her. But it is for her to come to you, when she is ready. I tell you all this so that you will be prepared. The people she has left that she can count on she can count on one hand. You can and must, for her sake and for her to be on her guard, tell her the story of you and her. But she must be allowed to fall for you on her own. Fear not to much, in this and every life you both have had she has always been yours. But you can not push her." he said. "I am not a child, Elijah! I know the way to her heart, as she knows mine. We are more connected than you know." I snapped. "you had better hope so, and watch yourself. The Raven waits in the wings, and he has waited just as long as you have." and he groaned. If he could he would bring Arcan back to life just so he could kill him far more slowly! His brother wore a knowing smile. "And that right there is why she loves you, you are both so much alike." and almost on cue, a growl came out of Rogue when a groan came from her well loved St. John.

**One hour later...**

John's POV

He had insisted on being with her in the back seat. He needed to be near her. The feelings he got off these beings that surrounded them was that he could trust them but something about their nature set him on edge and if they were human he was a choir boy! The one he bonded with the most was Kol, and it was natural, almost as if they had known one another their whole lives. It was he that set him at ease by trading qips and insults and winking at Rogue inappropriately in such way that had him almost falling over laughing at his sheer nerve! Rebekah, through no fault of her own, reminded him far to much of the White Queen, she was distant, ice cold. In a strange way, though she was nothing like him and would likely hang herself before hurting the sister of his heart, she reminded him of Iceman. But the one that concerned him the most was the blonde one, with the crystal blue eyes and the ready smirk. He oozed power and authority. But there was something about him, something that was primal, feral, animal like about him that reminded him of the Wolverine, but far more powerful! The way he looked at Rogue, it made Pyro's heart jump into his mouth! It was soul deep, it was a gaze filled with those emotions that were so deep and so profound that words could never give them proper justice, and what scared him more was every so often, Rogue would send her own, very similar looks in the man's direction when he wasn't looking.

It felt like getting out of a deadly situation to only walk into another one willing immediately after. "You think to much Fireman. No one is this family will ever do Rogue any harm. We will destroy anyone who dares even think of harming her, and anyone they ever cared about besides. You have no idea how long we have all waited for her. Do you think I would harm my sister? Annoy her maybe, because that's just far to entertaining even if she can turn me into an ice sculpture for a week or hurl me around like the Hulk. You need to relax. All of us have taken a liking to you. Our kind of trouble and all that. You have to trust us to keep you both out of the Feds hands and safe and sound. We have others here that we keep hidden, even if they don't know it." well damned if his attention hadn't changed to another subject but now he was curious! "What do you mean? Are there mutants in Mystic Falls?" he asked. "Possibly. But here the supernatural is very strong. You know, vampires, like us but not as old or nearly as powerful, werewolves, vampire/werewolf hybrids like Nik, witches..." John noted what he said about the man eying Rogue, he truly did, but something about how he said witches.. "Witches?" he asked. Kol smirked like a hyhena. "You are not the first pyromancer I have ever met, though I will say you are the coolest." he remarked.

His eyes bulged. "Ok now you got to keep talking!" and Kol laughed. He patted John on the head. "The time will come when I will have the distinct pleasure of introducing you to our resident witch, who's main element just so happens to be fire. And she is a very lovely flame to get burned by, Miss Bonnie Bennet." now John was smirking. Mystic Falls had just suddenly got alot more interesting. They finally approached the Mikaelson Mansion, which allthough not as large at the Professors, was quite impressive. The detailing was dazzling, even to him, who didn't usually take note of such things. He found out that Rogue was awake by her gasp at the sight of their new digs. "Oh ma gowd! It's a beaut! Look at dat John! Ah haven't seen anything so lovely since New Orleans!" she said referring to their short stay with the Guild and their mutual friend and self proclaimed older brother, Remy LeBeau. "You have a wonderful eye Anna. It is indeed the French style, though it was not always so. It has been newly renevated." spoke the one Kol named Nik. "Ah can tell, the engravings, its the classic style, but it is to precise to have been made by da tools of da 17th century masons. The curves and the the corners are to perfect." she marvelled. In her shock her accent bled through, as it always did and he had to fight from stroking her head fondly. She once snapped at him when they were both still at school that she wasn't "you're damned lap dog!"

By the look in the rear view mirror he could tell that the head Mikaelson was impressed! "You are well learned and have a wonderful eye! But now it's time to explore the inside, shall we?" and he got out and opened the back door, taking Rogue's hand in a gentlemanly manner that made him want to groan but he knew would make Rogue melt. Her eyes were lit, and locked and to his, and that gaze he saw earlier was now mirrored. "I know you are having a moment, but could you guys get a move on? I would like to get out of the back seat sometime today." he quipped. Rogue wacked him in the back of the head. "Manners! Jesus John! You would think you were raised by monkeys!" she glared at him. He smirked and just started making monkey sounds sending Kol into fits of laughter to be followed by the rest of them. They got out and Rogue couldn't control herself but start gushing about the landscaping, causing him to drop out of the conversation and he noticed Kol was doing likewise. "Please tell me that they aren't going to harp on this forever!" he pleaded with him. "Sorry my new friend, but Bekah is kinda into it and Elijah is all about the sculptures. You can always hide out with me. That's usually my cue to go get my drink on at the Grill." he said. John smirked. "A man after me own heart!" he quipped putting his hand on his heart in a exaggerated manner. "Sorry, but I don't dig on the males. And don't you have a fiery little lady you need to get to know?" he teased back.

"Oh I intend too!" he vowed. If Kol's smirk said anything, it was that Bonnie Bennet was a firecracker who packed a powerful punch and filled with sass! Just how he liked his women! He couldn't wait! After they finally finished touring the grounds as Rogue annoyingly demanded after the view of the front lawn, they FINALLY got inside. Now it was his turn to be impressed! The pricy digs, the furniture, the pricy paintings in gold frames, the goblets that lied here and there and even the candle sticks spoke of a kind of luxury that not even the Guild could boast of! The high ceilings were painted rich colors and complimented by the rich earthen tones of dark wood from which the frames were made. The chandliers were large and gorgeous and the rooms were spacious yet not airy. THey looked lived in. It was luxury that didn't look untouchable. It had a very lived in feel, a feel that set you at ease. He imagined the Mikaelsons did that on purpose. He had watched them for a while and it was clear the family had very serious enemies of their own. The plague that came with power. And speaking of power, he was pretty sure that even Rebekah could overpower Magneto with her pinky finger. But the Phoneix... And like that his good mood was ruined. That thing was eatting away at Rogue! Constantly cracking at her walls, seeping into her, seeking to corrupt her soul and turn her into a living puppet. He couldn't let Her take her away! Maybe here, with someone as powerful as Nik, there would be a way to destroy that evil bitch, once and for all!

He didn't notice that he had been led away from the group till he looked up and found himself alone with the eldest and most dandified of the siblings. "I know you know what lies locked inside Anna. In time, all of us will know. But I need you to tell me now, how great of a threat are we under?" he admired the man for wanting to be prepared. "She is constantly being attached within. She has built internal walls to keep her out but her influence seeps in through cracks. As powerful as Rogue is, she is still young, like all of us. She can't keep that She-bitch closed in forever! We have to find a way to end that Thing, or It will end us. I know. I saw what It can do with my own eyes." he was consumed with pure pain, the memories of Alcatraz. What happened that night changed everything for him. He could not allow himself to be the pawn of a man who would unleash such a thing upon them. Logan had not been strong enough. To stop it, Rogue had to climb that hill, seen only by him and Calypso, come behind and absorb that Thing. Give Logan his opening. It was then he finally understood the REAL reason Rogue was going to take the cure. She thought that be doing so, it would kill the Phoneix, making it a sacrafice she was willing to make. It was more than just trying to be with Bobby. She was taking a major one for all of mutant kind! But the cure didn't hold and made Rogue thrice as powerful and the threat returned.

When the X-Men forced her to continue to use that power, and she was well within the grips of insanity, John had decided it was time they made a break for it. Neither of their masters gave a damn about the pawns they used to fight their wars and he wasn't going to watch while Rogue was destroyed from the inside out! He had the full backing of the well in the know Ragin Cajun. "That haunted look in your eyes tells me more than your words ever could. We will wait for her to be ready to tell us about that night. But meanwhile, you must help me look for ways to deal with it." he said. "I'm all for it. By the way, what's your name again?" John asked. "Elijah. You'll learn all the names soon enough. Come, it's almost story time." and with that Elijah led him into the sitting room, where all the others were already sitting, including Rogue who like by instinct made sure she was as near to Nik as she could get. He noticed she drew comfort and strength by just being in his prescence that he hadn't seen in her in far to long, and decided then and there to adopt the feral Mikaelson as his own. He nolonger doubted his feelings for her. Nor the resolve to let her fall for him. He took a spot beside Kol and looked and Nik expectantly. Somehow he knew this was going to be good!

That's right folks, good old Remy will be coming in to our tale later on, and charm Rebekah right off her feet, even as she steal's everyone's favorite's rascals heart. :D I LOVE REMY! HE'S ENTIRELY TO COOL!


	5. The Wolf, the Wild Child, and the Raven

**Chapter 5: ** The Wolf, the Wild One, and the Raven

Klaus tells Pyro and Rogue of how she and he and his family are connected, the love story between her and him. He also tells her of the one sided affections of Arcan Salvatore who could shift into the form of a black bird, to plant a warning in her mind and the unknown Raven can't scoop up her heart before Klaus has a chance to win her back.

Klaus POV

That invisable pull towards her was strong, and overwhelming and much to his liking, not one sided at all! Her unconcious leaning towards him and her constant nearness since they had got on the grounds showed him that her soul remembered him! But that haunted look in her eyes, the ice of her exterior filled him with a pain that not even his family betraying him or his Mother trying to kill him ever could! The curse of Mikael and Arcan Salvatore followed her into this life and filled it with horrors and carnage to rival that of any vampire or supernatural he ever met. He needed to know how and why. He needed to know Anna Marie D'Ancanto's story the same as she needed to know his own. His gaze locked onto hers and did not move when he spoke. "The connection you feel to me, to all of us, is a unbreakable soul bond. Beyond time and space they were formed, and in every life each of us have had, we have all been bound. This has been proven more than once, a powerful witch by the name of Ayanna made it clear to us eons ago, here is this very town." Anna started at that name. "I know that name! I have heard her voice!" she spoke shocked. A smile lit Klaus' face. It was good to know that monster though he was Ayanna still had a soft spot for Triane. "It's good to know that at least someone was looking after you." he said, unable to keep down his anger at those who were supposed to protect her.

When Pyro made to protest he glared at him. "That did not include you, Fire Child! I know everything you have done, I speak of those who should have defended her and did not. You should never of had to fill that role but we are grateful that you have. Now let me tell the tale." he snapped. Fire danced in St. John's eyes and he knew then and there that he and the young pyromancer were very much alike. Kol played the peacemaker, telling him to chill so he could continue his tale. "Your tale begins with that very same witch. You see, your name during this time was Triane de Wilde, and you were the child of a Frenchman and a native woman. Your father left without preamble after impregnating your mother. You remained with her people till your later teen years when the tale of a young girl with extrodinary abilities began to circulate around the town. You see Triane inheredited the supernatural abilities of her mother and that of a few others in the tribe. You knew what kind of person someone was, knew their personality to a tee, by sight alone, even from a distance. And you also had the ability to become one with any animal, see through their eyes, taste with their mouths, smell with their noses, fly with their wings, and you used these abilities to help others. But the villagers that shunned us but feared Mikael did not fear you or your people.

A Christian preacher declared you a daughter of the devil, and the villagers fought to destroy your people and left you only alive. Our father refused for any of us to get involved to help the natives. He kept saying nothing could be done. They found you and dragged you by your hair, you fighting and cursing them with all you had the whole way. They tied you to a stake but right as the fire began, a lightining bolt stuck between you and the preacher that was so strong it knocked everyone to the ground." a soft smile that sent shivers down his spine crept on Anna's face. "And the witch, the one everyone feared stood before them and demanded my immediate release. And that if they did not, the ghosts of the people they had wronged would destroy all their first born, as was done in ancient times and their New God would not lift a finger to save them from a fate they had earned." she said, shocking herself and everyone in the room. Klaus nodded. "Yes, and from that moment you went under Ayanna's care and trained with her and our mother Esther. When you had healed Esther brought you over to our home for the first time." he began to loose himself to the images, memories so deeply etched in him that every detail was engraved upon his heart. Images of when his eyes first saw Triane, and his childish reaction of jealously over the time his mother spent with her at first. In fact at that first meeting, he made it a point to bring it up!

(Klaus memories)

He rose from the table, rage coursing through his veins. "What makes you think you could just show up here and monopolize my family!" he demanded. The girl had the nerve to roll his eyes at him. "How old are you, Nikolaus?" her demand set him off guard. "What?" he asked. "Your age, you can count can't you?" she bit out sarcasticly. "Of course I can!" he said taking the bate. "How fortunate, now how old are you?" she asked again. "19" he answered, feeling smug. "I don't think you are." she responded, suddenly looking at her nails. His family was spellbound by the scene while Elijah looked to be holding in laughter. "But of course I am!" he barked. "I have never come across a 19 year old who acted like you did just now. It is not how a grown gentleman behaves. Now I will ask you again, how old are you?" and Kol was the first to loose it into fits of laughter. "Wow! I like you! You have got some fire in you!" he got out through breathes. Mikael looked smug in his corner. "It is about time someone got past your looks and put you in your place, boy." he said, looking at the newcomer with approval. He stormed out into the night, angry with the world. Hours later, he answered the sound of soft footsteps, thinking it was Rebekah. "Your temper will be your death, if you allow it, Nikolaus Mikaelson. I mean your family no harm." her soft voice stopped him.

He looked at her in shock, caught up in gazing at her lovely form in the light of the moon. She smelled like everything he loved, fresh tilled earth after a soul cleansing rain. Exotic flowers like the kind his mother and Ayanna grew. She resembled less the cheeky girl he met in the house and more like a ancient soul. "Do you not? Just me then." he responded, his voice low with a twinge of sadness that made him inwardly cringe. She moved closer, and he saw the hint of bread in a basket. "No, you least of all. I want to help you." she said softly. "Why?" he asked. "I see myself in you. The wild girl, the one everyone fears, the one everyone wants to kill." she said sadly. And he remembered what the villagers did to her and understanding coursed through him. Perhaps she wasn't as different from him as he had first believed. "Are you a child of Nature, Triane?" he asked. "Yes. More at home here than within stone walls were everything is so stale, so confining." she shuddered and he knew her horror as his own. He understood it deep within his soul. "I suppose I could learn to tolerate you." a teasing tone entered his voice that he couldn't take back. She leaned on the branch of a tree and a laugh escaped her lips. "Very kind of you. I appreciate your toleration." she joked.

She walked up closer and handed him the basket. "Dinner, now eat and then go back home. I headed off your father's lecture for tonight and you'll be able to rest." he wasn't use to someone being that kind to him, he almost didn't respond to her. She turned to leave when he finally got out a soft "thank you". "No need. Nikolaus, just remember my words. I'll be seeing you around." she said and left for the direction of Ayanna's house. It was to late for him to walk her to her door, like the gentleman he was supposed to be. But it seemed to him she liked being alone, to walk the night and take in the wonders in the shadows, to take in the sounds, the scents, the images of a Mystic Falls evening. The same as he did. And the more he thought on their squabble at dinner, the more it amused him. His brother hadn't been wrong, the girl had quite a bit of fire in her! Rebekah would be beside herself to find someone in the village that was as strong and stubborn as she was! And Kol looked ready to adopt her on the spot for being able to stand up to him and strangely enough, grab Mikeal's approval, something that was not easy to do at all! Long after finishing the basket, he made his slow way home, wearing a smile and whispering a goodnight to Triane to the wind before he entered his home and went straight to his room.

He never noticed it then, but he could look back now and see there had been a Raven there, watching them that night. And after that, Triane and his family became inseprable. She spent many nights at their house. One evening, she sat by him, near the fire, just watching him. "Something on your mind, wild child?" he asked, using his favorite nick name for him. "I was wondering if you would like to know what I saw when I first saw your father." she said, her voice floating around the room and catching the attention of all the siblings. Kol plopped next to her. "I certainly would. You Rebekah?" he asked the blonde. "Should be entertaining." she smirked. Elijah looked at all of them. "Be careful, no need to bring down his hate on you anymore, Nik." he warned. "You can be such a kill joy, Elijah! I'm going to have to remedy that and get you a girl!" Triane quipped and Klaus laughed aloud. "Good luck with that one!" he joked. "Don't doubt my ways." she said in a loud whispers sending him in Kol into near hysterics and even Finn had a grin on his face. "Majority rules. Tell us." he said in response to her question.

"I have a gift, other than seeing with the eyes of the hearts of the wild. I can look at a person, and by sight alone, even from yards away, never have talked to this person, I can tell you what kind of person they are. I first saw Mikael the night they tried to burn me. Mikael thinks he is a good man, but he is not. He is painfully empty, and he tries to fill that emptiness with a possesive nature over your mother that borders on abusive. He tried to fill it with children but he fills an abiding hatred for Nik for which he has no reason. He hunts not because of sport, but because he likes the kill. He likes the screams and to see the suffering of his victims. Not one death is ever anything but slow. It feels a whole in him to be able to make others feel the pain that he feels every waking moment. One day, that emptiness will cost him everything. His hatred for everything will bleed over, and I fear when that day comes, none of us will be safe." her accurate assesment was so dead on, and so unexpected dark laughter sent him, Rebekah, and Kol over the edge! "Are you sure you are not a witch?" he had teased her. But he stored up those words in his heart. There was a warning in them that he wished he had taken heed to. After that night they started going out into the village together. Rebekah also in toe. That's when Arcan began to complicate things.

They had been visiting the tavern his father owned, all three having had a little to much wine and laughing loudly at a story Rebekah was telling them. Music was playing and the black haired, blue-eyed devil waltzed up to them. His eyes fell on Triane immediately and something in Klaus growled. He didn't like how the rich boy eyed her, or the smirk on his face. "Such a fair woman as yourself should be in better company. Would you like to dance?" he asked her. "At another time, I have company just now, mister..." she trailed off. "Arcan, Arcan Salvatore, and what may I call you?" he asked. "Triane de Wilde but you knew that before you entered, changeling." she said with a challenging look in her eyes and Arcan laughed. "I knew you would be a treat! Are you sure you don't want to ditch them and come with me?" there was something wrong with how he looked at her. Klaus didn't like it. "She said some other time, go somewhere else!" he growled. "Calm down Nik, I'm a big girl." she commented. She rose and looked the other man in the eye. "Another time, I promise, as long as you don't resort to insulting my friends again." she said. He laughed good naturedly. He ruffled his hair with his hand. "Sure thing, anything you ask, doll." the way he said doll set his sister off! "Catch a clue and get lost!" she yelled.

Arcan raised his hands in surrender and left, but winked at Triane before he did. "Oh great, a stalker!" she mumbled. "What do you mean?" Kol asked. "This isn't the first time he has seen me, though it is the first time I have seen him." Klaus growled at her meaning, catching on immediately. "Don't loose your temper, Nik. Marius Salvatore practicly owns this place, I don't have a particular hankering for being tied to a stake again." she whispered to him, not wanting to call him out in front of his siblings. "You are not some object for him to parade around whenever he wants! You don't have to do anything with him!" Rebekah began ranting. She was saying exactly what he was thinking, so he let her do his talking for him. "I made a promise to a man, Rebekah. I didn't judge Nik on our first meeting, Arcan deserves the same curteosy. A dance never killed anyone." Triane remained stubborn. "There is something not right about him, Triane! It's in the way he looks at you, the way he talked to you. Like he already owns you! You can read people better than any of us! Surely you see that!" she reasoned. "Yes, I see that. But there is also good in Arcan. HIs darkness is in equal measure to his goodness, he could tip either way and I won't have myself be the reason he tips in the wrong direction if I can stop it! Now that is the end of it!" the way she raised her voice, which she hardly ever did, and her eyes darkened with power signaled this was the end of the discussion.

The siblings had learned to fear her wrath, something terrible to behold when you were on the receiving end. As sweet and good as she could be, she was vindictive when wronged and strong in her anger. Klaus however reveled as much in her anger as he did every other aspect of her. His burden of being hated and blamed for every wrong the family went through was almost non existant when she was around, as well as his father's wrath. Something about this authority she carried with her stopped even him in his tracks. "Alright, Wild Child. Just be careful! I don't trust him, and I don't think you should either." he said. "If he ever tries anything, you would know instantly and would come, wouldn't you?" she asked rather softly. He forgot everything but her, and the fact that her head was now lying on his shoulder and how beautiful she was, and how incredibly strong. He could never deny her anything. His feelings for her grew by the day. He never had someone with whom he had such a soul deep connection. They were two of a kind, far more alike than unalike. He often watched after her when she went on her late night walks from Ayanna's, just to be sure the wolves didn't come for her. But it seemed to him that like with him, even they had a connection to her and would never bring her harm. Not like it had been with Henrick.

But Arcan was a different story completely! If he meant well for his Wild Child then he was St. Augustine reborn! She was right about their connection. If she felt pain, he knew it as his own. If she was happy he was almost puppy like in his joy. When she was sick, he would suffer with her. He would know if Arcan harmed her, and he knew what his reaction would be, consequences be damned! "I would, I would always come for you. But I might come to late! You have to be mindful of that! I can't loose you too!" his heart nearly stopped at the very thought, agony running like ice through his veins. "You fear to much for me Nikolaus. You forget just how dangerous I can be." and a picture flased through his mind, when she demonstrated, only for him, how powerful her gift was. She encircled them with timber wolves, two wild cats, birds of prey in the air, serpents at her feet, larger than he was around! They howled around them but everyone of them bent to her will. Not a single one would attack them. She had the wolves do tricks that he had seen others train puppies to do, and bared their bellies to her submissively, licking thier hands when they both rubbed thier soft tummies. She then explained her power to him. What it was like to be both her, and be them at the same time. To see with their eyes, to hunt in their packs, to taste the caribou. What it felt like to soar the night time skies in the form of an eagle, or race across the land as a wild cat.

She told him that once upon a time, there was a family, one descended from the First Men of the world, and their sigil had been that of the direwolf. And they could do all she did, and worshipped the ancient gods, gods that bore no names and had no need for them, and were worshipped as strange red faces upon ancient trees. She taught him how to hear their voices, and the morality of the ancients was the morality of the heart, and the morality of the wild. It was all things, and untill the world understood that, there would never be peace. "Do we know peace, Triane?" he asked her once. "I know peace in the wild, when I finally let myself be free. And when I pass, I shall join the gods that have no need for names, as my ancestors who bore the direwolf have done before me. And I know peace when I am with you." she confessed. "And that is the only time I know peace, when I am with you. It is the only time I will ever know it." he had told her. He had no idea how prophetic those words would come to be. Remembering all these things, he began to soften. Her power outweighted Arcan's malice. If he harmed her, no one would ever find the body. But still, the ache in his heart when he thought about him could not be ignored, so he decided when Triane fulfilled her promise, he would be there. And she let him know with a nod of her head that she knew where his head was at and she would not stop him.

He did not like giving into the Salvatore, but he had no choice. He even had to act gracious when Marius came out and gave him a bottle of his best wine, curteosy of Arcan as a gift of good will to Triane. The older Salvatore had a twinkle in his eye when he looked at her and Klaus knew that he was mistaking his son's intentions. Unlike Mikael, Marius was a far to easy going of a father. He showered his son and his daughter in affection and extravagent gifts. It probably had something to do with the early death of his wife Laeona on her child bed. Arcan had a reputation, but he had to admit that Triane was right. He could be crueler than Mikael on his worst day, or kinder than St. Francis of Asissi. He knew what she meant about that balance of good and evil in him. They left that evening, never knowing how great of a role he would play. A few days later, Triane did dance with him, and there was a change in the boy Klaus never seen before. There was true joy in his face, and he was gracious to her. Nothing had been to good for her or any company she brang. He sat and talked with him like he never had to anyone in the town. He learned alot of things about the boy, like how Marius was not the man he made everyone believe he was. He was more like Mikael then he realized. Arcan did what he wanted because he did not care about his son, only what he could do for him.

He doted on him in public and beat him in private. It was a sort of two faced attitude that made him prefer Mikael, who was at least honest in his hatred! He never played games with Klaus' affections. He told him that Triane reminded him of when his sister would talk about their mother. That there was a draw to her, this invisable thing that beckoned to him. Her easy authority, her strength, her gifts. He even freely admitted he was first drawn to her because of those gifts. He recently found he had a strange ability, he could shift into the form of a great raven. He sought her out that first time because he needed to understand this new side to himself. Klaus began to relax, seeing Arcan as a friend that was like him, in alot of ways. He never complained about him tagging along and all three would indulge in their love of the wild together. He had thought back then that he sought her out because he needed what he thought he saw in him and Triane, a friend, and a wise teacher, someone who could understand him, who he could tell secrets to, to find a sense of peace himself. But he also saw the dark side, the possesive side. He never liked anyone else coming in on their time. And anytime another male so much as looked at Triane with any desire he would fly off the handle! Not that Klaus didn't want to do like wise, but strangely, he found he had more self control when Triane was around but the opposite seemed to be true with Arcan.

Triane began to start trying to include Rebekah on their excusions. Klaus knew and approved of what she was doing immediately, and Mikael, he was overjoyed with the idea! She wanted to play cupid and Klaus had to agree, Rebekah and Arcan would match and compliment one another perfectly! She could give him back his life, bring in a love that had been missing from his life. For a while, it seemed like they hit it off! Rebekah was his preferred dancing partner, and partner in crime when any prank was getting ready to be pulled. They had the same sense of humor and the same taste for danger. She even managed to talk his mother to be for the match! Ayanna however would look on sadly when the four would go off when a knowing glance. Mikael and Marius talked, and Arcan was invited over for dinner along with Triane, whom the family was quickly adopting as one of their own. For setting such a perfect match for his favorite child, nothing was good enough for her in Mikael's eyes. He immediately started his own matchmaking campaign for the Wild Child. He had eyes for her to be with the stoic Elijah, his second favorite. And the two did grow very close, for Elijah understood that wise side of her, that part that was such a wise old soul, and they would worship the gods with no names together. But their connection was a platonic one, everyone with eyes could see that but Mikael. Durring that dinner, Arcan had everyone believing that he had fallen for the blonde beauty, and Marius and Mikael were seen more and more together.

Klaus knew they were hammering out a marriage agreement. His sister was stoic to the news. "I don't think you understand his affection for me Nik. He doesn't love me like you love Triane." she told him. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Oh come off it Nik! You have been in love with Triane since that first night! You are like soul mates! Everyone can feel the connection between you! Elijah loves her, but you are in love with her. Can you seriously tell me you could handle anyone else marrying her?" he tried, he really tried, but the very thought sent him into a blinding rage and it dawned on him. "I'm in love with her!" he said wondering. Then he began shouting it and grinning like a lunatic before looking back down at his sister's sad, smiling face. "She loves you too, Nik. She would die before she let any harm come to you. You can tell by the way she looks at you. She doesn't look at anyone like she looks at you. There is such bliss, such a peace that falls on anyone that comes near you guys when you are together. You are bonded. Arcan and I are not bonded like that. We are friends, it's all we will ever be. If he marries me, it will be because it was demanded of him. He would be good and kind to me, but not true. His heart belongs to another." she said. Klaus didn't want to believe her. After all, the boy didn't give any of his time to any other woman but...

"Yes, Nik. It has been from the beginning and always be Triane that carries Arcan Salvatore's heart." she said. Panic came over him and she laughed. "Oh look at you Nik! She belongs to you, your Wild Child! She won't have any other. She won't bend, not even to Father, to marry any other. She doesn't even look at any other man that way but you! You have no need to fear for that." she said. But the fear wouldn't leave him. Not because he didn't know Rebekah was right, but because he knew if Arcan was in love with Triane, there would be nothing he wouldn't do to gain her. Nothing beyond him that he would not try if it meant she would be his and his alone! His first reaction to him came back to mind. Rebekah was sad. "I am sad for him. He loves someone who's heart he will never have. I simply have the heart of someone who does not exist now." she said with a sigh." He bent down and held on to her. "You don't know that, Bekah. Your time will come." he promised her. But from that day on, things began to get darker. Esther became more and more withdrawn, even from Triane and Ayanna. She spent long nights sobbing on Henrick's grave, or locked in her room. When it became clear Arcan would not propose to Rebekah, Mikael blamed Triane and started to be a tyrant with him again when she wasn't there, beating him so that it would hurt her, driving a hatred that would never die.

The trio split up and Triane began to get paler. "He's mad, Nik! He's mad with obcession! He won't stop! He constantly watches me, and he never gives us a moment alone in the wild! He takes on his bird form and goes into jealous rants!" she would rant in anger. "I don't want to send him to a place from where he can't return but I can't endure much more! I am not some prize to be won! I deserve to be an equal! I don't love him like he loves me! I can't!" she broke into tears. "Because you love someone else." he stated, his heart in his throat. She looked away. "Oh no you don't, Triane! Don't look away! Who is the man who holds your heart?!" he demanded, feeling urgent. "Nik..." "No, not this time! I have to know!" he said. "You! You Nik! It will always be you, now, till my last day, till my next life, till EVERY life!" she screamed with tears down her face. He scooped her up and kissed her, hard, passionate, and all his longing, all his bottled up emotions were in it. When they broke for air, a dazed, happy little smile was on her face that made him forget everything else. "You are mine now, Wild Child. You are going to be my bride." he told her. "So nice to get a choice in the matter." she teased. They both laughed. "Not this once, but anything else and it's yours! Nothing matters as long as you are mine." he told her. From that one happy moment, everything went to hell so fast. Arcan stalked her every move. Finally, he made a move when Klaus had not been there, but he felt it! At the tavern, he took her in his arms against her will and forced a kiss on her, one that sent him to the floor when she back handed him.

He ran at her. By the time he got there, she had an army of the wild surrounding them. "Arcan, I love you, but I am not in love with you! I'll never be in love with you! Don't make me harm you!" she begged him, in tears. "You are mine, Triane de Wilde! I would rather you dead in my hands than in the arms of another man! I would rather your hands suck the life out of everything you touch so that no one could ever touch you that wasn't me!" Such fervancy, such mad obsession was in his eyes, such wildness that the curse found it's mark, and he felt Pyro's anger as he told this part of the tale. The room tempature went up, and fire danced at the end of his palm. He knew he liked St. John! At the time, nothing would stop Arcan. He trailed her in everything she did, crazed, murderous. The wild protected her, till the moment came when she had to call the wolves when Klaus couldn't get there fast enough, and she watched in horror as her once friend was torn apart by wolves. The town went mad with anger, and Mikael threatened her life. When Klaus defended her, his father gave him a near fatal blow that sent his mother into a dark madness. Day and night she read from her book, creating the spell that would turn them all into monsters. And the dark time came. Triane could feel this night would not be like the others. There was a eclipse, and a terrible air rose.

His brother Finn became sick, sick to where there was no cure. So, pretending to put a blessing on her family, she told Triane to stay home who did so out of understanding. And she sacraficed the first dopplegagger, Tatia, who had stolen Elijah's heart. The act of violence and the howl of pain of his brother and the moon was to much. Magick in the air and bloodlust in all their hearts, he murdered his mother and ran. When Mikael found Esther's body, he blamed Klaus and Triane for all the ill that befell his family. He hunted the girl down like an animal. In his new form, no power could protect her. He tortured first, making her watch. By the time Klaus reached them, he had her by the hair. "You there boy, good! Now I am going to make you watch, watch and do nothing while I make your little beastly whore suffer and die! Like your mother died!" And the magick in the place held him back while in his wolf form. He ripped her heart out slowly, all the wild screaming with him as she died, his heart died along with her. Mikael threw her heart out at him. "Make your love to that, if you can!" he mocked, before harming him. Ayanna saved him, getting out of her bonds and calling on the darkest of her powers to give her the power to do one last act. "You won't suffer alone." she said sadly.

"And it was Ayanna who brought Esther back. Ayanna who with her, forced under Ayanna's incredible power as she was, to do the spell that would bring Triane back to us one day. But my parents had one last surprise for me before we were able to bind her. She supressed my wolf gene, leaving me alone and stranded in the world until I found the dopplegagger and only in the last few years, broke the curse. Centuries past and I gave up hope, thinking it was my mother's trick and that you would never be mine. I gave in to the monster, and you know what I have become. You know me as you always have. And you lived a life with a power that gifted you and cursed you above all others, Arcan's little gift." tears ran down her face, a thousand memories flashing in those emerald eyes. Her pain was a thousand times what they had been then. She had her own stories to tell, as did her partner in crime. Stories that haunted her every thought, over shadowed every word she spoke. But her pain was his, and his was hers. He couldn't stop the flow of blood tears. She crawled towards him, throwing himself in his arms and holding on to him. He ran his fingers through her silken hair. "I don't ask you to take me, to love me as you did before. This is a different time, and a different life. But don't leave me, don't leave me please!" he had never felt so weak.

"Never! I'll never leave you Nik! God, it's like I got my soul back!" and he clung tighter to her. He wiped her tears away, stabbed through the heart at what he saw. "You may be a monster, but you have nothing on what I have become. It's time you know about me. It's time to see what Arcan's little gift has wrought." the anger and the pain, it was so great that everyone in the room was pulled towards her. "Roguey, it's NOT YOUR FAULT! They USED you, just like they do everyone else! It's not you!" St. John said heatedly. He relunctantly let her go into his arms, the brother she needed right now. This was their story to tell. Elijah was eyeing them, the look on his face made his blood run cold. "Yes Anna, it's time. Tell us what we need to know. Tell us what happened with you. What happened that night on Alcatraz Island."


	6. Alcatraz

**Chapter 6: **Alcatraz

It's time for Rogue and Pyro to tell their own tale. One filled with war, madness, and death as they relive the moments leading up to the destruction wrought by the demonic entity that was the Dark Phoneix.

Rogue's POV

Every face turned to mine, and this time, I knew them all! I remembered deep conversations with Elijah about the nature of the true gods who had no need for names. I remembered the arguments Kol and I got into over strategy and swordplay. I remember the long nights of girl talk when I and Rebekah would ditch the boys and sneak off into the night by ourselves and watch the stars. I remembered the love I bore for Nik. That overwhelming, soul deep connection that had no need for words. A bond that was as vital to me as each heart beat and every breath I took! My volatile Wolf! He was right of course. I did indeed know him. And though I did not condone his actions as he gave in to the inner beast and turned into a monster to rival Mikael, I understood them! How could I not! With what I was, all the things I had done, the lives I had took, lives taken long before that fateful night when I had to become the host to this evil, demonic bitch that was fighting for control and unfortunately was beginning to win! Even held in John's arms I reached out for him. It was instinct, something deep inside that knew him, had always known him, even in this life.

He never said it but I knew. We were bound. And though I would not simply fall into his arms, I had pride and I was going to make him work for it, I already knew what would happen between us. And this wasn't going to be like Bobby. The emotions I felt towards him already dwarfed that tragic relationship! Nik would cut off his own hand before he would ever betray me like that! He took my hand and squeezed, and I felt his conflicting emotions as if they were my own and I knew that for once, this was nothing to do with the mutant abilities I had! This was the bond we shared, and one we seemed to have shared beyond time and space. The tears silently fell and I could feel Pyro rub his arm comforting me as best as he could, probably willing my inner imprint of him to give me the strength and downright defiance that I needed. "It started when I turned 15. Strangely 'nough, dreams of y'alll started when the mutation triggered. Ah was with my then boyfriend, and we were talking about the cross-country trip Ah had been planning to take after Ah graduated highschool. We sat on my bed together, and ah was nervous, never had been alone with him like that before. He leaned in, kissed meh.

That's when it happened! Soon as he tried to go further, meh mutation rose up for the first time! Not till now did Ah ever understand why it happened like that. Fucking Arcan! It's a strange sensation. Ah won't lie to you, mey power is a hungry power, it calls out for others, and unlike other mutants, it has never been under mey control! Ah could feel him, feel him as he drained and there was this twisted side of meh, one that before that moment Ah never knew was there, that revelled in his weakening, his will bending into mine. Those wholesome memories, thoughts, talents were mine now. By the time Ah realized what was happening it was far to late! Ah fought, fought so hard and Ah couldn't pull back! I couldn't detach myself from him! He was going to die! Finally, pulling on something foreign, something inside, ah yanked back. I screamed as he convulsed and meh parents came runnin'. Ah was so scared! Immediately meh bags were packed, they screamed at meh, called me the Devil's Child, they threw me away like Ah was trash!" and after all this time, the memories still tore at me. How could someone who gave birth to you turn you away like that? I looked up, brought out of my memories when a chorus of growls was heard around the room.

"I'm sorry Roguey. I never knew! I just assumed your life was like Bobby's, perfect! I never knew...damnit! Why didn't you tell me?! We were the same and I didn't know and I let you get hurt out of spite when I didn't know better!" I turned around giving St. John a smile that was only for him. "Because I knew you like I know myself, Pyro. If I would have told you, you would have hunted them down and killed them yourself. You are my bestfriend! I wasn't going to let the police take you away from me when I needed you! We are the same, you and I are practicly twins! And being so, it's my job to protect you when I can." he rolled his eyes. "Roguey..." "Oh shush sug! I know you don't need it all the time, but ah got your back and you got mine and that is how it's always gunna be, got it?" I gave him that look that he knew better than to argue with. He let out a laugh. "You are far to stubborn for your own good!" he remarked. "Tell me about it!" Nik remarked with a fond smile. I turned to Elijah, looking in his eyes and focusing on him. "You need to know it all to know what you are up against and know when we may have uninvited guests." I told him.

He nodded, it was my signal to continue on with the tale. "Ah ran all the way to Canada, having spent a year on the streets before comin' across everyone's favorite father figure, the Wolverine!" I elbowed John when he snorted. Elijah's eyes widened but Kol looked like an excited kid in a candy store. "It was a cage fight, and hid in the back under my faded hood. In a place like that I didn't exactly stand out. It was the first time Ah had laid my eyes on another mutant! It was amazin' to see his skill, the animal in him as he fought, the power he weilded and the way he healed. Ah was transfixed! A uninvited guest looking for mutant blood spoiled the night, and against his better survival extincts, he saved meh, only for us to be accosted by those Ah would learn later were Brotherhood, those led by the mad man that is Magneto!" even now to say his name filled with me with a hatred that made my listeners a little wary of it, except for Nik. Nik understood it that kind of anger, that kind of hate. His hold on my hand tightened. "Eventually we came to a school, a school and a haven for mutants like meh. The Professor, Professor Xavier swore to help meh!"

The old lies were still bitter on my tounge and Pyro knew all about it. He too had been lied to and his power manipulated by the mind mage to the point that he could not create the flame he could control. It took us a week after leaving our masters to uncover the memory and get him as he should be! "It's alright Roguey. Maybe, with these guys, or even the witch we'll find a way!" hope fired in my heart as well as curiosity about said witch, but I had to let it slide. I continued my tale, how I was manipulated to leaving the school. What happened at Liberty Island. When General Striker came for all of us. Learning in secret with John about my ability to not just take teh abilities of other mutants but being able to control and weild them myself! When John left to join Magneto. Bobby never knew, but I had known before he had left the plane what he had planned. We had talked it out in my tent before he ever left. Bobby had already made wild assumptions about our closeness so we kept it secret. It hurt like hell, but I knew why he did it. He wasn't about to be best buddies with the man, but he believed in what Magneto stands for. He still does and knowing what I know about what turned Eric into what he was now, I couldn't say I blame him or that he is wrong!

John began to talk then. "There were slight hints about something he planned. Something that Mystique did not like. And when Mystique fears a plan of Mags' you KNOW it's not a good idea! Roguey and I kept in touch, even openly. We saw no need to hide the friendship anymore. Both sides could go to Hell as far as I was concerned if they had anything to say about it! The Brotherhood damn well knew I wouldn't allow ANYONE to hurt Rogue! It was an unspoken rule. People respected me there. I found leadership skills I never knew I had! When I led the attack outside the cure center, Roguey was there. At first I was pissed, thinking she was going for the cure till the girl dragged me over by my short hairs and read me the riot act!" we both chuckled at the memory. "She was using it as an excuse to see me. To warn me about what was happening. "She's gone off her rocker, Pyro! She isn't Jean anymore! She's some insane monster who killed Professor Summers and would have killed Wolverine! She took out Xavier! You can't trust her and don't even get me started on Helmet Head. John you have to promise me to look after yourself!

I couldn't stand it if I lost you!" even now the raw emotions of that moment raced out of me. He was my brother! I couldn't let him die! "Ah watched from behind the scenes, they never noticed, not with my gifts! Even though I fought for control over my own mind from the imprints running around in it, I used those gifts to get all the information I could. And that information was beyond terrifying! The Dark Phoneix has the power of an archangel! Like Lucifer himself come to Earth to intiate the End Times! And so ah talked John into devising a ruse with me at the Cure Center. I made everyone believe that Ah had gone to take the cure and that Pyro depised me for it! He taunted my then boyfriend Bobby with it. After he failed to pick a fight with the human ice cube, Ah went back with him after putting on a elaborate disguise and using only telekenitic powers infront of others. Ah watched when Magneto brought the Phoneix to the Brotherhood. Ah gathered all Ah could and then Ah gave it to Wolverine. After a long fight ah made him swear to tell no one! The more Ah learned, the more Ah knew that it would be meh that would have to do something.

No one else would be strong enough! She would destroy the world with nothing more than a glance if I did not act! So ah kept my plan a secret even from John. Else he would have never let meh do what had to be done." I said. "Damn right! Crazy bitch!" he muttered under his breath and I wacked him upside the head. All the vamps wore amused smiles at our antics. "Ah decided to take one for Mutant Kind. While Wolverine approached her from the front, Ah would come from behind. It was easy for someone who even at that time, was growing in power beyond what those around us knew. Ah downplayed what I could do around everyone but John for a reason! Ah never imagined the nightmare that came!" the images slipped out of me. Everyone in the room gasped, beings with true immortality that could never truly be killed were filled with horror and fear at the sight of the things that came pouring out of me. Slowly, almost politely I was pulled out of Pyro's arms and back into those of my Wolf who held on to me like a life line! "My God Anna!" he whispered in my ear. His grip was that of iron, and I couldn't help that inspite of the moment I enjoyed the fact that for once someone was more concerned for me that protecting their own ass!

I nodded. "You had to see it to understand what we were up against. Against his desires, Pyro threw his fight with Bobby to get to me. Together we had to fight a way through to the back. By then he finally knew what ah meant to do, and he knew it was the only way. Ah grabbed her ankles, pulling on her with all my will and strength and thinking and feeling nothing else! Ah felt Jean fight her way back, her knowing ah was there. She knew we had to kill her! Powerful as ah was, Ah I couldn't do it alone! her control was that of mere minutes. Finally getting through to Wolverine, he finally got the strength to put his blades through her, and as he did, the Dark Phoneix slipped into me." I looked over to Pyro to continue the tale. "She was out cold when I reached her, and all the others were long gone. I got her out of there, and into a hospital. We fought like hell, but in the end she did it. She took the cure, thinking that would mean the Phoneix would be nuetralized. She went back to the mansion, to find her so called boyfriend in bed with another girl!" the fireplace flames rose dangerously high as John's temper flared.

"Ah left, ah was alone. Ah did the only thing ah could think of. Mey powers no longer a problem, ah went home tellin' them the Devil's hold had been takin' from meh! How they celebrated, and how ah hated them for it! How can one be a prodigal when they were forced out?! But they were good to meh. Ah had a family again, and ah was happy for a year. It was mey birthday, I turned 18, when everything went to Hell. My ma and ah were makin a cake for a party. We bumped hands when it shot out, raging with a power ah never had before! She was dead before she ever hit the ground. Ah ran and ran, to be found by a very unlikely person. Mystique came, and when ah looked on her, Ah no longer felt hatred. She told me that the others had their powers back too. She also told me that she knew that I did not take the cure willingly, something she could have learned from John. And anyone John trusts, I trust. Ah told her where ah really stood, told her everything. Ah went back with her to the Brotherhood and John was there! And after such a long time we fought on the same side again!

But Mags used my power without caring about the price ah paid for it! A chorus of thousands now ring inside meh head! When ah left, Mystique and John came with meh. We were full fledged X-Men with an ax to grind with the Brotherhood! But in the end, they used me too! They tried to make it sound noble, make it sound right, but in the end it was no different than Magneto! And when they sent Mystique on a suicide mission that ended her in the Federal Pen, both of us had enough! By then, mey battle for control over my own body was well underway. And everytime they forced me to go into that predator side of myself, her hold got that much stronger! That is when we left, and the Battle for New York started!" the rest they already knew. Elijah looked me dead in the eyes. "How many have you killed because of the THing that lurks within you?" he asked. "5" I didn't waver in my gaze. He nodded. "But it will be more, and soon, if ah don't find a way to stop her!" I said.

Klaus' POV

The images she sent, the nightmare story her and Pyro had told him filled him with a revulsion of humanity that he had not felt in YEARS! To take someone who had been as innocent and good as her and turn her into a very Goddess of Death just so she could survive was cruelty on a level he didn't even think HE of all creatures was capeable of! And he couldn't help but think of the young pyromancer's words earlier as the threat the Phoneix posed was made terrifyingly clear. The way to remove that Thing from her may lie within the brilliant mind of the young and powerful Bonnie Bennet. Which meant he might have to end up playing cupid and peacemaker sooner than he had anticipated! He knew that soon the overtures of peace would have to be made just to keep the feds out of their town and away from Anna. But this was on a scale that like it or not, he may just end up needing Steffan's little group's help! But right now, the other half of his soul was suffering, and it was far greater than he had ever imagined! He wanted to find this Magneto and teach him the true meaning of power and suffering for what he had done! He was also thinking he may just pull a few strings and get their mutual friend sprung from the pen...

He looked around at his siblings. He knew the look on Bekah's face. Anna was going to be put right directly under her wing, and God help anyone that ever tried to do anything to her! To know of the things that her sister had been forced to endure and know that they could not be there with her, he felt it himself! It was a crushing pain than brought up a rage that could only be cured by the blood of those who struck out at what was their's! Kol had an unusually thoughtful expression on his face. He could almost see his wheels turning, trying to figure out how to make everything right with doing his returned sister the least amount of harm. It was quite clear that she could not be turned while that Thing resided inside her! He didn't even want to think about the consequences that would bring! He eyeballed Elijah next, and knew that the most thoughtful of his siblings was already formulating a plan, one that Klaus was not going to let him to keep to himself! "Is there anyone you still trust within either group, Rogue?" his question caught Klaus offguard. "Only one is worthy of trust!" John growled and personally Klaus liked his attitude! He knew he could trust his judgement. "Remy LeBeau aka Gambit, self proclaimed older brother. We stayed a while with him at the Guild in New Orleans while we were with the X-Men.

He's a scoundel and he'll flirt with anything in a skirt, but he is a powerful fighter and a damn good friend. He also has his hands in many supernatural pots, if you will." made sense to him. A Guild of theives in a place like New Orleans was bound to have a Supe or two. There was a soft smile on Anna's face as she thought about her friend, one that grabbed at his heart. After all this time, she still had that thing about her that made the violence in him dissapate and brought forward the protective caring side he did not show anyone else except maybe Bekah! Said sister was looking at Anna with interest as she continued to describe Gambit and he had to admit, he sounded like a modern Cajun version of Kol! Which is probably how he got to be so close to her in the first place. Something inside of her still sought them out, knew that they were missing! It filled him with hope, hope that she did belong with them and when it came time for her to choose between him and the Raven, she would choose him and his family every time! "Give him a call, Little One. He is probably worried about you and Fire Boy here anyway. Invite him out. We could use the help." the smile she gave him, the happiness on her face made everything seem right with his world.

She bounded out of the room with John and Bekah at her heels. Something that interesed him. Perhaps Bekah might have a little interest in the cheeky Remy! She did have a thing for scoundrels, after all! And if he hurt her, well, it's not like anyone would find the body!


End file.
